Brunel Employee Benefits’ sister-company Brunel Insurance Brokers Ltd has announced the acquisition of Glentworth Insurance Services and Glentworth Portishead Ltd (Glentworth) for an undisclosed sum.
Glentworth, which was originally established in 1993 under the name of Watson Insurance Agencies Ltd, is a significant and well respected broker operating from four offices in the South West. Over the years the client base has grown substantially with a significant bias towards commercial customers. The business commands approximately £10m in gross written premium and has established strong insurer relationships.
Brunel Group CEO, Russell Lane, said “Finding brokers who fit our culture and core principals is becoming increasingly difficult. From the start we knew that Glentworth and Brunel share the same values. These values are always based around putting the clients first – something which I believe is sometimes lost elsewhere in the industry in its quest for saving money to boost profits of private equity investors or for cutting costs after large mergers.
“The hands-on, client-facing approach by the Glentworth board and the extra mile they go for clients sit squarely with Brunel. Decisions get made for the benefit of clients. It’s a great business which we plan to support and invest in. This is very much a merger of equals and I am really excited about working with everyone at Glentworth”.
The executive management team at Brunel has set a clear long term strategy to grow the business in terms of both revenue received and the services offered and, following the merger of the Brunel and Glentworth businesses, the group remains firmly on track with its plan to double the size of the business by 2022.”
Matt Harlin, managing director of Brunel Insurance Brokers, said “Glentworth is a long established broker based in the South West with clients throughout the UK. Their reputation and professionalism was an instant attraction. I am delighted that the Glentworth directors will all remain with Brunel in the long term and am pleased the combined management team will ensure that all opportunities to grow the combined business will be utilised. Additionally we are welcoming 25 new colleagues to the business who will benefit from an enlarged merged business sharing the same values and ethos. These colleagues bring with them valuable experience and expertise and their contribution to the Brunel family will be key to the future success of the company”.
Glentworth Insurance Services’ managing director, Gary Cox, also commented on the acquisition, saying “We were very wary of selling our business to consolidators as we were fearful clients would suffer and we believe that clients are more important than numbers on a spreadsheet.
Brunel has gained a reputation within the UK insurance industry for providing high levels of client service, its technical ability and its ambitious growth plans. After discussing our ethos with Russell and Matt it became clear we share the same values. We are looking forward to working with them now and for many years to come.”
Glentworth will continue to trade as Glentworth Insurance Services Ltd from its existing offices, ensuring continuity of service for its clients whilst at the same time allowing access to the wider range of insurers that the merger with Brunel will bring.
